Conventional medical laboratory systems contain many segments for processing patient samples, some of which are automated and some of which require manual operation. Laboratory systems today have become more efficient due to those segments which have become automated. However, there are still several components of medical laboratory systems that can be automated in order to reduce the need for manual operation of the system and reduce the space required by machinery.
Use of robot arms in various areas of a laboratory system is known. A robotic arm unit can couple to a specimen gripper or a gripper unit for gripping specimen containers using gripper fingers. However, the gripper fingers of the gripper unit may not be easily replaceable. For example, the gripper fingers may need to be repaired due to wear or service. In some cases, the specimen gripper may need to perform different functions using special gripper fingers customized for each function. This may require frequently exchanging the gripper fingers. For example, a specimen gripper may be used as a tube gripper, a recapper or a decapper in a laboratory automation system. It may be desirable to change the gripper fingers in a specimen gripper in these situations.
In some cases, the entire gripper unit may need to be demounted and remounted when the gripper fingers need to be replaced or repaired. Additionally, mounting or demounting of the fingers may require tools (e.g., a screw driver) and a certain amount of time (e.g., for removal of the screws). This can lead to sample processing delays. In such cases, it is desirable to have the flexibility of quickly and easily replacing the gripper fingers without requiring tools, such as a screw driver, or without the need to demount the entire gripper for exchange of the fingers.
Embodiments of the invention provide systems and methods for the quick exchange of gripper fingers without the need of tools.